Stede Bonnet was feeling out of his depth, as he breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, the smell of bleach and cleaning supplies stung his nostrils.
He was decidedly not hiding, he thought, as he pulled his feet from the floor and curled himself into a safe ball perched atop the toilet.
Camp was nearly through and he just had to avoid the Badminton boys for one more night and he’d be home free.
Trouble was, he’d seen them watching him as he left the mess-hall. He had simply slipped into the nearest bathroom to regroup.
He began to regain his composure after 20 minutes and was about to start climbing down from his perch when he heard the bathroom door slam open hard.
He stilled his breathing.
He heard a voice, but not one he recognized from around camp, warm and jovial, calling to someone waiting outside.
“…kay Iz! I’m just taking a piss. Campers are all at the ceremony anyways.”
Stede’s curiosity was getting the better of him, and with the knowledge that this wasn’t one of his tormentors, he slowly raised himself to his feet on the toilet, to peek at the newcomer.
In the low light of the flickering fluorescents, Stede saw a boy about his age, pushing his black mid-length curls back in the mirror, before splashing his face with some water.
“Time to sober up Ed,” the boy said to his reflection.
Stede had been coming to this camp for many years. He’d protested each one those years, though none more then this one the summer of his senior year. In all those years, he’d gotten familiar with the regulars, the rich kids whose parents shipped them off every year like clockwork. This wasn’t one of them, and yet Stede swore there was something familiar about him. In fact, he was sure he’d seen him before. While trying to place the face he saw in the reflection, Stede had entirely failed to notice that he’d been spotted and the boy’s two brown eyes where staring directly back into his own from the mirror.
Stede was staring up into those same eyes now, having immediately lost his footing in a panic and slipped off the toilet, through the swinging stall door and landing, much to his horror, on his back on the cold linoleum of the bathroom floor.
The wind knocked out of him, he sputtered, searching his realing head for an excuse for his current situation.
When his breath returned to him, he whispered the only thing that had come to mind.
Edward Teach starred down at the spy, who starred back with the wide eyes of a mad man. Found me? Did he think they were playing hide-and-seek? The boys response had disarmed him and he let out a chuckle, lifting an eyebrow as he further accessed the situation. He recognized the puffy and red eyes. He was all too familiar with the face that told the aftermath of a good cry. This boy wasn’t hiding from him, but he had been hiding from someone.
Edward drew a quick breath in before slowly reaching a hand down to assist.
2087
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